Hearts of Iron: World in flames
by EclipsePheniox
Summary: Taking place over three perspectives. Politician (Japanese Leader), Soldier (British in Europe), Journalist (Fascist America). The year is 1940 and the world is at war. Nazi Germany is poised to take Europe, Britain is falling apart and the USA no longer exists. Nations face each other for control of the world. But who will be the victor? Alternate history, sci-fi elements.
1. Faction list

Hi guys, because I like people to know what I'm talking about this is just for context.

Empire of Japan.

The newly formed empire of Japan has diverted from its fascist ways and embraced a traditional role similar to the empire of the past. While the Emperor is head of state, he is simply a figurehead while the modern-day Shogun is ruler of Japan. However, the Empire is bogged down in China due to the change in government.

Free American Empire (FAE)/ United States of America (USA)/ Peoples Communist Republic of America (PCRA or CRA).

During the early 1930's the different political groups in America began to take notice about what was happening across the world and felt like these new ideas could improve America. However, congress was divided on the subject, some wanted to discuss the topic while others did not. This fighting got so bad that the president, Roosevelt, was forced to dismiss congress until such a time they could talk. But this had the opposite effect. Several states seceded from the US and the nation split into three factions causing a three-way civil war. The strongest faction is the FAE who control 27 out of 50 states.

Nazi Germany.

With the fall of the former German Empire and the Treaty of Versailles making people starve in Germany, the Nazi party took dominance in all areas of politics. With the charisma of an actor Adolf Hitler turned the once falling nation into a fascist military state ready to take on the world. With the rise of the Nazi state, Europe is in flames and the British empire is in its eyes.

British Empire.

The saying 'The sun never sets on the British Empire' used to be true, now it's nothing more then a memory as the British empire is in flames thanks to Communist supporters. These rebellions have stripped the empire of its former glory, and with the Great war draining resources the empire's days are numbered.

USSR.

With the world on fire it's hard not to notice the inactivity of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. With another global war on the horizon the quietness from the USSR is disturbing to say the least. But despite the quietness the USSR is dealing with a new rebel faction that has the backing of Nazi Germany. It's only a matter of time to see if the Union survives or falls.

Units.

Heavy infantry.

While the use of armour is largely unused due to how heavy it is, but due to new metals the idea of armoured troopers is coming back even if they are experimental. So far, the use of heavy armour has proven itself. Most heavy armour is attached to a powered frame which differs for function from nation to nation. For example, the British Knight heavy armour pattern is designed to be a multi-purpose tactical suit that sacrifices protection for a modular design. This makes it easy to maintain and outfit, but weaker in terms of majority and protection.

Mecha.

The term Mecha is a Japanese word for a piloted walker. A mecha or 'mech', as it's more commonly known, is a walking tank that bypasses the use of treads for tanks in favour of mechanical legs. Much like heavy infantry armour, mechs they vary from nation to nation. An example of this can be seen with the American Leeson A1M3 mech which is a quadruped anti infantry mech due to its quad machine guns on its back and it's carrying capacity for 8-man squad.

Airships.

Despite the Hindenburg disaster, Airships are slowly coming back into use with the introduction of a new gas known as Helius gas. Unlike helium, helius gas is a lighter than air non explosive gas that makes it valuable for airship makers. Due to how recent the discovery is many nations do not have access to helius gas. Currently America and Nazi Germany have access to the technology, but in this age of war technology does not say with one nation for long.

Main characters:

Note, some historical characters will be included but I will be mostly using OC's.

Tenshiro Oda:

Recently promoted to Shogun, Oda was a former frontline general before the Kadoha coup. After, due to his leadership skills, he was promoted to Shogunate and lead the nation to victory. However, he didn't want the job in the first place. Reluctant and with the weight of on his shoulders, he has to pull though and bring a squabbling government together in order to achieve domination.

Alexander Jones:

A soldier in the British army, Alex is a career soldier despite his family's warnings about going to war. However, trapped in Europe, he needed to dismantle the Nazi war machine before another invasion begins.

Sophia Lancaster:

An American war-time journalist who's documenting the civil war in America she has an uphill battle to attend to as the FAE begins to control the media. Determined to tell the truth, she will not hesitate to step on toes she shouldn't.


	2. Japanese beginings

Tenshiro Oda the Shogun of the Empire of Japan sighed as he rode the lift to the top floor where his office was. If the state of Japan was any indication of the of the world, then the best word to describe it was shit. After the Great war the world just became even worse over the next 20 years. The rise of the Soviet Union and the fall of the USA showed that. The world was becoming embroiled in war and conquest. Ideologies and bad blood clashing like there were no tomorrow, which might as well be. He was selected to be Shogun by the Kodoha faction because of his leadership skills, now with what he was given he wished someone got the job.

The lift came to a stop and he stepped out ignoring everyone else as he made his way to his office. The global saturation maybe getting worse, but Japan's situation was also bad. Due to the young officer coup, the military in China had no idea what to do so they just waited for new orders. The economy was on the verge of collapse and industries were low on raw materials. Low supplies to new military units and more, he felt like he was in an impossible situation no matter how you looked at it.

Walking into his office he just walked over to the desk placing his briefcase onto the desk before sitting at the chair. Before anything else he took a deep sigh and pulled out the latest paper. It was filled with what one would expect. Adverts, world, local and national events and more. But this time it was filled what was happening in America. While event's in Europe were also important the American news was more recent.

Pulling out a bottle of coke he opened it and took a sip while reading.

"With the recent attack in New York by the FAE army it would appear that the 2nd American civil war will soon end. The CRA has fallen back to the Sothern states with the lack of manpower and resources to continue the fight. It is suspected that the faction will soon fall within the next three months due to poor governance and management of its administration. 2 states under the control of the CRA are considering re-joining the USA or putting their lot in with the FAE. But one thing is for sure, America will never be the same again," he spoke as he read with a sigh.

"Gezz, and here I thought we could ally with them," he moaned placing the paper down before looking outside of his office window. "Just one shitshow after another. What I wouldn't give to be back in the field,"

Tilting his head back he looked at the celling feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. If only they could find someone else for the job, but no it was him or no one. That made his job even more difficult. Ruling an empire was not going to be as clear cut as he would like to think. He was Shogun now, and he needed to achieve global domination. That was the goal. But now, that looked even more unlikely. Picking up the paper again, he began to read it carefully. Not all news could be 100% trusted, but they did provide enough information to formulate a plan.

Reading it he found that Australia was in the midst of a civil war between the Imperialists and Successionists from the empire. That useful, despite their problems the British empire was still quite big and an economy powerhouse. Oda stroked his chin reading about the recent attacks. He could make some kind of deal with Britain if he played his cards right. The main problem he had was trying to find enough petrol to keep the Japanese military machine moving.

If he could help Britain secure oil fields, they could both use them to make gains both in Asia and Europe. Not to mention that I would help keeping the UK off their backs as the army moves across China. He stroked his chin; the UK would also want soldiers in Europe to take on the Nazi's. Well, that was fine with him. Oda didn't like the Nazi's; they were too controlling and there was just something about them that he just didn't like. They preached a variation of 'God's' will about how it's their destiny to rule a 1000-year Reich of pure Arian bloodlines.

That made no sense to Oda, as soon as he was promoted to Shogun, he immediately ordered all ethnic testing stopped. It was probably due to his upbringing, he was born to a Japanese father and American mother, that he saw difference as an advantage. As he continued with that train of thought that when he realised something. Why only employ men in the army? He sat up straight as if he just discovered a new element.

Why didn't they employ women as soldiers? The Onna bugeisha had a long, if forgotten, history in the armies of the daimyos. This would allow for a greater number of the population to serve, not to mention that the trained factory workers would stay in their jobs creating weapons at a greater pace. Giving himself a slight smile, it soon fell as he realised that changing it may be problematic. People, in general, don't like changes to the status quo. This was going to be a problem.

OOOOO 3 days later.

"That's OUTRAGIOUS!" General Takahashi yelled from across the table. "You cannot just add women into the army! Women aren't as strong as men!" he declared.

Oda had called on his experts to discuss several plans he had made. He now sat in the conference room with 5 others to discuss the plans he had made. But not all of them were happy with them.

"Really?" General Yamada asked looking at the older general. "Women have fought in wars before, hell I've heard of women joining the Red army. Not to mention we had the Onna bugeisha in the past,"

"There's also the point of industry to be made," Takuo said thinking about what Oda said. "While I do have my objections, the Shogun does make a fine point of having more talented and trained workers in the factories. When they want to be, women can be and will be as furious as men on the frontlines. My objections are mostly around mixed sex units rather than having them not join," he said looking around.

Oda looked around. Some of them were swayed by his arguments but the others were not. It was clear that most people had problems with the idea of women joining than an alliance with the UK. He decided to make his play.

"Look, I understand that this is hard to accept. But when you look at our population and the population of our puppet states, we have a larger population to call on to war. Russia has been quiet for the past few years, what happens when they start to move into China and we don't have enough of an army to defend our territory?" he asked making people think. "Hearts and minds win wars, not just weapons and tactics. We all know of the problems in Korea and China. Let's make them think that we are there to help. All equal in the eyes of the empire. Men, woman, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Let's unite them all and show what we can do together,"

Eyes looked from one another and few nods appeared from the others. Good, he had the dissenters outnumbered. Inwardly he smiled.

"So, I can assume that we are all in agreement? Women and non-Japanese will be able to join all branches of the military. In order to improve relations, diplomats will be sent to the UK to improve relations and hopefully set up an alliance with them," he said and no one said anything. "Good, meeting adjourned," and with that he got up and left leaving people to just sit there wondering about the future.

OOOOO 3 days later.

The news spread fast and a lot of people didn't like it while others welcomed the change. A surge in recruitment for all three branches of the military. But this was only in Japan, not the Asian territories. But Tenshiro knew this and had already made plans for a large propaganda campaign with Chinese and Koreans who are sympathetic towards the Japanese. Granted it wasn't going to be easy, but he was happy for it at the very least.

But that wasn't what worried him. Looking out of his window at Tokyo with a newspaper in hand. The Free American Empire had won the civil war. What was left of the United States and CRA was no more. The FAE had offered them unconditional surrender, the two remaining factions had no choice in the matter. Low on resources and manpower, they had to surrender. By the end of the month the surrender would be finalised and all that would be left of the United States of America, would be the Fascist Free American Empire.

It was also highly likely that they would join the Nazi's. That terrified him to no end. A united front in Europe and America would lead to the British Empire to its violent end and probably the Japanese empire. The Soviet Union could be next after that, granted he didn't like them but he did fear a world ruled by the Nazis. A non-aggression pact with the Union might be the best option. Despite his pride he needed to talk with the Union whether he liked it or not.

The door to his office opened and a woman in a kimono walked in. "Sir, the plane is waiting for you," she said with a polite bow.

OOOOO 2 days later.

Despite the sun it was still freezing, Moscow was always like that. But he didn't like it. The scene just didn't fit right to him. Russia wasn't a European nation, nor was it an Asian nation. But the combination of both, and for some reason that made him on edge. Either that or his military instincts were kicking in again as he was in given that he was in what is essentially, enemy territory. Tenshiro just stood looking out at the city before looking over to the door as it opened. Chief of staff Semyon Timoshenko walked in dressed in a heavy Russian greatcoat decorated with medals.

"I apologise for being late," he said in Japanese with a clear Russian accent. "But your arrival was so sudden we didn't prepare,"

"It's quite all right," Tenshiro replied in Russian making the Field Marshal give him a surprised look.

"You know Russian?" he asked switching back to his native language while approaching the Shogun.

"My father fought during the Russo-Japanese war. He taught me Russian suspecting that the nation would invade at some point," Semyon nodded slightly.

He was a little taken aback by the politeness and casual way of Tenshiro was acting. It made it clear to the Marshal that he was needing something.

"I assume your visit is about what has happened in America?" he asked.

"You assume rightly," Tenshiro said with no hint of emotion. "Like it or not they will likely Join that madman Hitler with their absurd notion of 1000 year Reich and Arian superiority. We both know what America can be if given the right position. A superpower, like Britain. Paired up with Germany, I don't think I need to say more,"

Semyon nodded and looked out at the window into Moscow. "I know what you mean. With Germany getting assistance from America, they will be able to move deeper into Europe and the middle east. Hitler also has a hate directed towards communism. They are a threat, as are you, but given that you are here I suspect you see them more as a threat,"

"Indeed, I do. Alaska and the American east coast, not to mention the men and equipment. If they take Japan, they will set their sights on the Union. And if Britain falls along with its territories… Russia will not be able to support a war on two fronts. Neither of us can win if we fight each other, can we?"

The Field Marshal nodded in agreement understanding the logic. "So, what do you propose?" he asked.

"An unofficial no aggression pact. Not one in writing, but trust. A partial demonization of the border on both sides. Then if America attacks, neither of us will be focused on each other and neglect defence,"

"Make it look we are still at each other's throats, but we are not," Semyon nodded. "I understand. I will see if I can convince Stalin of this,"

"If you don't, at least make him realise the threat America poses. War with Japan, will not help either of us should the Free American Empire attacks,"

"I will," he said offering a hand which Tenshiro took and shook.

It wasn't an alliance; it was an understanding.


End file.
